As is known in the art, systems are available to assist a driver of a vehicle in detecting objects in front of a vehicle. These objects may be other vehicles moving on a highway. Here, such systems advise the driver when approaching within several feet of a forward vehicle.
As is also known in the art, many simple devices have been used to assist the driver in ensuring such driver has parked the vehicle sufficiently and safely into the garage such that the front of the vehicle does not strike the wall in front of the vehicle while enabling the overhead door of the garage to be closed without striking the rear of the vehicle. Such systems require notification when the vehicle is only several inches in front of a wall of the garage. Thus, the distance-measuring requirement is different for a highway application than for a parking application.
One such system includes hanging a tennis ball, for example, from the ceiling of the garage at a point such that when the ball hits a predetermined point on the windshield of the vehicle the driver is advised that the vehicle is sufficiently away from a wall in front of the vehicle and also sufficiently within the garage such that the overhead door may be safely closed without hitting the rear of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the hanging ball occupies space in the garage and may otherwise interfere with activity within the garage in the absence of the parked vehicle.